Term of office

A term of office, electoral term, or parliamentary term is the length of time a person serves in a particular elected office. In many jurisdictions there is a defined limit on how long terms of office may be before the officeholder must be subject to re-election. Some jurisdictions exercise term limits, setting a maximum number of terms an individual may hold in a particular office.

44 states had terms of office for the of the state legislature (often termed the state House of Representatives) at two years. Five (Alabama, Louisiana, Maryland, Mississippi, and North Dakota) had terms of office at four years. (The Nebraska Legislature is an exception and has a unicameral legislature with members elected for four years, with staggered elections for half of members.)

lower house

37 states had terms of office for the of the state legislature (often termed the state Senate) at four years. 20 states had staggered elections for half of the seats in their four-year upper houses, while eight others (Arkansas, Delaware, Florida, Hawaii, Illinois, Minnesota, New Jersey and Texas) were elected on a 2-4-4 schedule, depending on the proximity of the election to legislative reapportionments following the decennial census. Twelve (Arizona, Connecticut, Georgia, Idaho, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, North Carolina, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Vermont) had terms of office at two years.

upper house

Netherlands[edit]

In the Netherlands the position of Minister-President (Prime Minister) is limited to four years (counted from the moment the government is officially formed) although it can be repeated indefinitely after subsequent elections. It is common for the heads of governments in the Netherlands to take up the mantle multiple times, although it's neither expected or required to do so, more often a consequence of governments breaking up internally before their official four years are over and reforming with other parties. This is how the Netherlands ended up with consequent cabinets by: 4x Willem Drees (Drees-Van Schaik I '48, Drees I '51, Drees II '52 - Drees III '56) 3x Dries van Agt (Van Agt I '77, Van Agt II '81, Van Agt III '82) 4x Jan Peter Balkenende (Balkenende I '02, Balkenende II '03, Balkenende III '06, Balkenende IV '07) 4x Mark Rutte (Rutte I '10, Rutte II '12, Rutte III '17, Rutte IV '22).

Term limits in the United States

Term limit

Reelection

Midterm election

Alexander Baturo and Robert Elgie (eds.). 2019. The Politics of Presidential Term Limits. Oxford University Press.